For a long time, this record felt untouchable.
Babe Ruth set the American League single-season home run mark on multiple occasions, but his final salvo was a 60-HR season, a nice round number that became sacred in baseball for more than a generation.
Lou Gehrig couldn’t match it. Ted Williams couldn’t, either. Mickey Mantle made a couple runs at it but came up short.
But then along came Roger Maris, who one-upped it. Maris, the less-heralded member of that 1961 New York Yankees outfield, blasted 61 home runs.
And then that mark seemed sacred again. The National League’s Steroid Era sluggers breezed past 61 a handful of times. But somehow, the AL was never hit with such a tainted mark.
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A few years ago, the prodigious Aaron Judge passed Maris, again by a single blast. The AL record now stands at 62.
And it’s under siege.
Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh hit two home runs Wednesday night. He has 60 for the season.
He has already set single-season records for home runs by a catcher, a switch-hitter and a Mariners player.
For a time, it looked like Raleigh had slowed down.
Apparently not.
There are four games left for Seattle. Raleigh is locked in. He needs two homers to tie, and three to set a new record.
Is anyone betting against the Big Dumper at this point? His season checklist of history would be complete if he grabbed this one, too.
